2001 2nd-Warmest Year on Record, Group Says

This year has been the second-warmest on record, and the trend toward higher global temperatures appears likely to continue, the World Meteorological Organization said last week. The average temperature in 2001 rose a fraction of a degree to 57.2 degrees, marking the 23rd consecutive year that temperatures have been above the 1961-90 mean, which is used as a baseline. The 2001 average temperature was second only to 1998, when temperatures rose under the effect of La Nina, the sister phenomenon of El Nino.

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Compiled by Times medical writer Thomas H. Maugh II